


When Merlin Decides Enough is Enough

by FandomFanatic51



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Daggers, Swordfighting, arthur needs to back off, because I say so, idk man, im just winging this, merlin needs a hug, so ill stop and write this shit now, the people in ealdor were nice to merlin and knew about his magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:47:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28376442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomFanatic51/pseuds/FandomFanatic51
Summary: At this point, Merlin is just tired of seeing incompetency in the knights of Camelot.
Relationships: Knights of the Round Table & Merlin (Merlin)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 261





	When Merlin Decides Enough is Enough

Merlin sighed. How long was Arthur going to let these new recruits scrape themselves through battles with inadequate swordsmanship? Currently, the only knights capable of efficiently defeating an enemy were the Knights of the Round Table. Meanwhile, the other ones, whose names Merlin couldn't be bothered to remember, were cowering under the tutelage of Gwaine, Percival, Elyan, Leon, and Lancelot.

Arthur, on the other hand, was shouting at people and roughly moving them into a correct position, making sarcastic remarks, per usual. Once again, Merlin sighed. While Arthur may have been improving with his attitude towards other people elsewhere; when on the training field he regressed back to a complete prat. He shouted and yelled at people, and occasionally he threw a dagger at someone.

An hour passed. The King had dismissed the new knights from training, probably because he was irritated with them, among other things. No one quite knew the reason. He had now decided to spar with the Knights, and Merlin was having a ball watching them train. Daggers were flying in places they shouldn't, and while the knights were all perfectly capable of defending themselves with swords, there were still teeny, tiny mistakes that were desperately needing to be fixed. The warlock had started snickering a while ago, out of earshot. Now, though, it seemed his laughter was getting loud enough to bother Arthur.

"What do you think is so funny, _Merlin_?" Said person immediately shut up, though a smirk still was present on his face.

"Nothing, Sire!" He said innocently. Arthur, being the dramatic drama queen of Camelot, heaved a sigh and stabbed his sword into the ground. He impatiently waved his hand at his manservant, an annoyed expression on his face. Merlin sauntered over, hands in pockets and whistling. As soon as he was in reach, Arthur grabbed his servant by his jacket collar and stage-whispered in his ear, loud enough for the other knights to hear.

"Since you seem to think us so funny, why don't you tell us why?" Merlin shrugged.

"It's just that Percival's hands are way too low on his sword to maintain good control. And Gwaine over there, his attacks look more like he's trying to gently poke someone to death, instead of trying to disarm anyone. That's all, Sire." Arthur huffed, although as he looked around, Percival's hands _were_ rather low on his grip, and Gwaine _did_ look like he was fighting with a toothpick. He turned back to Merlin.

"Alright the-"

"And Elyan and Lancelot over there, they _really_ should be taking into consideration how the wind and the way they are letting go of the daggers are going to affect the trajectory of their blades. They're _barely_ hitting the targets, and I could've _swor_ n one of the daggers almost hit George over there, though would that really have been a _bad_ thing?" Arthur hastily let go of Merlin, appalled.

"Alright, _Merlin_. Since you seem to know so much about dagger throwing and swordfighting, why don't you grace us all with your _omniscient_ knowledge?" For a second, fear and worry flashed through Merlin's eyes, and Arthur for a second was _almos_ t worried, but the fear was gone as soon as it came, so Arthur thought nothing of it. "What's wrong, _Merlin_? Too afraid to have your pride handed to you? You know, for a second I almost thought that you might be decent at something, but clearly, I was wrong."

That must have struck a nerve with Merlin, because a second later determination had filled his eyes, and he almost literally marched over to the sword rack, picking up a blade and holding it aloft. Taking a few messy swings, he made a face, shook his head, and hastily put it back on the rack. Picking up a different one, he tried the same tactic, and made a small, approving noise.

"Come on, _Merlin_! We haven't got all day!" Arthur was pacing around in a circle, and Gwaine and Elyan had stopped what they were doing. The two knights watched Merlin and the king with nervous eyes, following the servant as he walked back over to Arthur.

"Ok, sire, who do you wish for me to fight?" Merlin spread his arms out, sword in one hand. Arthur, weary from all the things that had happened that day, took a moment to decide. After scanning the area, one knight caught his eye, and he beckoned him over.

"Gwaine, you were listening, weren't you? Merlin here _thinks_ he knows the essentials of swordfighting, so I want you to prove him wrong."

"Ah, no problem, Princess!" The rogue knight flashed a shark-like grin and turned to Merlin. "Alright, mate. Give me your best shot!" Merlin only gave Gwaine a weak smile and he moved his feet into a rudimentary stance, like the ones Arthur had tried teaching him once upon a time. Then, he looked up at Gwaine.

"You strike first." Surprise flashed through his eyes for a quick second, and then, without further ado, he swung his sword. Merlin, despite knowing the attack was coming, barely managed to block in time, and he stumbled back. Arthur smirked.

"Alright there, _Merlin_? Do you need a break already? Here I was thinking that you could prove me wrong, but once again, I am _right_ , and you are _just_ a _servant_."

The harsh words reached Merlin's ears, and he flinched. All this time being called a _servan_ t, or an _idiot_ , or a _bastard_ , and yet he was so much more than that. He was _Emrys_ , dammit! The fact that Merlin could use a dagger and a sword was _hardly_ his most important secret, surely he could let this one go. He closed his eyes and listened as Gwaine came bounding towards him, footsteps overly noticeable.

* * *

_Five yards._

_Four yards._

_Three yards._

_Two yards._

_One yard-NOW_!

* * *

Merlin opened his eyes a split second before Gwaine had raised his sword. His lower area was unprotected and Merlin swiped at it, not nearly hard enough to hurt but enough to leave a bruise. Gwaine fell back, surprised, and Merlin took that to his advantage.

After all these years of being on the metaphorical defensive side now was his chance to be on the offensive. He came at Gwaine in a flurry of attacks, efficient and clean. The knight was forced to resort to blocking and parrying, caught off guard.

Meanwhile, Percival and Lancelot had stopped what they were doing in shock; dagger forgotten on the floor and sword loosely gripped by the giant's hand. Leon, too, had stopped training a different batch of recruits and started watching. Merlin was known for being clumsy and inefficient, yet here he was, gracefully and cleanly attacking Gwaine like there was no tomorrow. A minute had passed and a crowd had gathered.

After years of watching the training that went on between the knights of Camelot, Merlin liked to say that he had a pretty good idea of each mans' fighting style. Gwaine was now not holding back; they were both attacking each other and smiles were on both of their faces. After a length of time, people were getting restless; Merlin decided to go out with a bang. He had already revealed one of his secrets; why not go all the way?

His smile morphed into a smirk. Using most of his remaining strength, Merlin pushed Gwaine back to buy himself a few seconds. The audience watched, mesmerized, as Merlin reached behind his back and under his coat. With practiced ease, he pulled the dagger from its sheath beneath his jacket and flung it.

A gasp went through the crowd as the blade soared right for Gwaine's head, and the knight had no time to block or do anything. He hadn't needed to worry though; the dagger had hit its intended mark- the tree trunk right behind him. The blade has passed by his head, so close that it moved his hair and he had heard as it whizzed right by him. Gwaine had turned around in shock, and by the time he went to focus back on his opponent, Merlin was there and waiting. In a move no one on the field had seen before, Merlin strangely twisted his sword, and a second later the rogue was on the ground, his own weapon in Merlin's other hand, and both blades were aimed at the knight's neck. Merlin was breathing heavily, but a smile was on his face. With a deep breath, he spoke to his friend.

" _Do you yield?_ "

* * *

Silence. That was all there was. Arthur looked on in shock as his clumsy, idiot manservant stood over one of his best knights, two swords pointed expertly at his neck. The words that came out of Gwaine's mouth were a breathless "yes," and so Merlin dropped the swords and held out a hand for Gwaine. The knight gladly accepted the help, and with a groan, he stood up.

"Bloody hell, mate; where did you learn that?" Merlin only smiled and turned to face Arthur.

The king of Camelot had his mouth wide open, and his eyes bulged. As Arthur would later say, 'those words never came out of my mouth!' He spoke, his mouth moving 'of its own accord.'

"What the hell." Merlin's smiled dropped a millimeter.

"What?"

"What the hell." Merlin absentmindedly wondered if he had broken Camelot's king. Arthur marched towards him. Arthur grabbed Merlin by the shoulders. Arthur spoke. Merlin braced himself. Merlin's eyes closed shut not wanting to see the emotions on Arthur's face.

"Can I make you a knight?"

* * *

_What the hell._

"I'm sorry?" Merlin all but spluttered. Arthur looked at him earnestly and shook him by the shoulders.

"Do you have ale in your ears, Merlin? I _asked_ if I could make you a knight." The words registered in Merlin's brain, and his 'loading please wait' face melted away. The first words to come out of his mouth were as follows:

"The people back home will _kill_ me when they find out about this." Arthur made a confused face.

"Why would the people in Ealdor care, Merlin?" The warlock took a deep breath. He motioned for the king and the Knights to sit. And so they did.

"Back home, our village was more often than not under attack by raiders and bandits. I wanted to protect my mother so I decided to learn to wield a sword. Eventually protecting her expanded into protecting the whole village. Will had taught me how to use daggers. After a while, the attacks had died down. Ealdor doesn't really have a leader, but there was a basically unanimous decision that I would be their unofficial lone knight. They managed to get me to recite the basics of the knight's code, even. So I think that if the next time I came home I was wearing the crest of Camelot, they wouldn't be too happy." Silence followed. People nodded. Arthur sat dumbstruck. Arthur nodded.

"Alright, then. Honorary knight of Camelot. Don't make me do this the hard way, Merlin." The warlock smiled slightly and laid back on the grass. He put his arms under his head and stared up at the sky, watching the clouds go by. There was a minute of silence as people retreated into their own heads. Then Merlin spoke.

"I _guess_ that would be acceptable." And so, they agreed, and by the time the group walked back inside, everyone respected Merlin that much more, and they were even a tiny bit terrified of him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! This is my first published work on AO3 so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!


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